After Fall
by SleepinEyes
Summary: When Cinder's plans came to fruition, they lost everything. Now how will they deal with the new tyrant and try to get back what they lost? AN:Will wait for the end of the current season to decide if I'll finish this story or not.
1. After Fall

Everything have gone to hell incredible fast.

First, the White Fang, somehow, entered the floating stadium and took everyone inside hostage, threatening to blow it up if their demands weren't met. When Atlas tried to intervene, their modern automatons were simply hacked and under the apparent control of the Fang. Luckily, Ruby warned Jaune and his friends something was off, and the blonde knight believed since Pyrrha was acting strangely and Yang's actions during her fight with Mercury was off.

So he, Nora and Ren started to create havoc and coordinating with the rest of the teams participating in the tournament, they were almost able to disarm the huge Dust bombs the Fang armed around the place. That was when the Dust engines failed, and the stadium fall from the skies. Evacuation was a messy affair, with the students keeping the White Fang busy as the people got inside escape pods. The students themselves escaped in the nick of time, thanks to the help of the Beacon staff, but the White Fang members died when the stadium hit the mountains and exploded.

It was even a worse outcome than expected.

The amount of negative emotions, of fear, attracted hordes of Grimm, and the explosion gave them the opening to invade. Beacon was the first place to be attacked, where the students where, and the fight wasn't going well. Too many Grimm, including the gigantic ones, forcing everyone to fight with all their power. For a moment they felt doomed.

Then Pyrrha appeared… but it wasn't Pyrrha at the same time. The way she talked, the way she moved… was so different, like she was someone else. And the power she displayed was so huge, so beyond what anyone could do. Hope filled their hearts again as she decimated the hordes of Grim with ease. Only to be taken away when she appeared.

Cinder Fall.

They did not understand what she did and why at the time, but she attacked Pyrrha. Jaune and the others tried to help, but Mercury and Emerald got in the way, as did the Atlas drone. The knight understood immediately that Cinder was the one behind everything, and tried to reach his partner.

He wasn't strong enough.

Cinder stole Pyrrha's powers and left the redhead unconscious. She showed even bigger powers than the champion had, and was about to attack the students if Ozpin, Glynda and the other teachers didn't interfered. While they fought Jaune grabbed Pyrrha, who was cold and unconscious but alive. He called for her in vain, and only moved away when Glynda Goodwitch ordered him to evacuate Beacon. He wanted to protest but it was clear they couldn't help. Even the all powerful blonde teacher was barely able to hold Cinder back.

"You're in command now, Mr. Arc. Good luck." Were the last words Glynda gave him that day.

They all ran to the airships, Jaune carrying Pyrrha bridal style and barking orders the best he could. Atlas soldiers were trying to help, but they also were having troubles. Then the Goliaths came, and Jaune made a decision to give everyone time, handing Pyrrha to Nora and ordering her to evacuate.

That was when it finally appeared.

His semblance.

When he raised his shield he wasn't stomped to death by the incoming Goliaths.

He created a bubble of light that stopped them in their tracks, and used his sword to slay many of them with single attacks. He barely had time to celebrate as his Aura depleted fast, and then the enemies were about to overwhelm him. His thoughts come to his friend, his teachers, and Pyrrha. At least he was going to die a hero.

His friends had other plans.

Blake used her weapon to pull him to the bullhead they had stolen. Inside, he found team RWBY, including Yang, Qrow and some woman he never saw, but that looked a lot like Yang only older. From up there they saw Cinder using her stolen powers to destroy the remaining Grimm and close the gap in Vale's defense.

Then they had to hold on as the hacked Atlas ships started trying to kill the escaping airships with the Beacon students and the teams that participated in the tournament and now were with them. Some of them started cursing their luck, but luck itself had not left them.

Three airships uncloaked and gave them cover fire. Black ships none of them had saw before, but all showing the symbol Jaune know so well, the symbol in his shield.

The Arc family crest.

Thanks to their help they were able to flee Vale and go to a place the blonde boy believed to be a legend, a secret island in the middle of a lake between mountains far from Vale, a safe haven protect by mist and science that only his family knew about.

Avalon.

He met his mother and sisters there, but there was not much rejoice as Pyrrha was taken to the medics. Jaune followed them, and didn't left since. Teams RWBY and JNPR stood with him all the time until the doctors, Raven and Jaune's mother, Joanna, came to explain everything. They spoke what Ozpin and Ironwood did to Pyrrha, and that while the champion was physically unharmed, her Aura was affected and behaving erratically, and there was nothing they could do for now, besides hoping she could heal herself.

Everyone cursed Ozpin and Ironwood and their little secret group. Jaune remained silent and just asked to be by Pyrrha's side. Yang found him there, holding the redhead's hand in silence while the machines beeped around the room. She approached and put her hands on his shoulders, prompting him to look at her.

"How're you, vomit boy…" She regretted calling him by that nickname now. By what she understood he led everyone to safety and showed his valor back at Beacon, and his reward was his partner in a bed, in a coma. But her voice came as caring, and he tried to smile at her.

"Had better days. I think we all have. I'm glad to see you out of jail. I knew you wouldn't hit someone without a reason." By now everyone knew of Neo and her illusions, and how she manipulated Yang to hit Mercury. "By the way, short hair suits you too."

"Thanks…" She touched her hair. She was forced to cut it to escape one of the Atlas robots, and at least she was able to land a punch on Neo's face while team RWBY tried to escape the Atlas ship she was held on. "Cereal girl?"

"The same. Mom believes she will heal by herself. But still…" She pushed his face towards her gently.

"You haven't cried yet."

"You on the other hand…" He answered and she nodded.

"We all have, even Nora and Ren. And I had a shouting contest with my mother… I think it will take a lot of time before both of us can be family again. But Jaune…"

"I want to cry." He confessed his eyes on hers. "But… I don't know why I just can't. My partner, the reason I lasted at Beacon this long is like this… Our teachers stayed behind to save us… Ozpin little secrets… But the tears just don't come out."

Her answer was to hug him, resting his head above her chest, and she cried again. Jaune felt her tears falling on his head, and somehow that triggered his own and he finally cried silently, and the blonde duo stayed like this for a long time, just letting the tears flow out of their bodies.

"Brother…" They turned to see Jaune's twin sister waiting at the door. She was a petite woman, but curvy. She had platinum hair in a French braid, and deep purple eyes. "Mother wants to speak with you. But if you need more time…"

"Pyrrha wouldn't want me to sulk for too long. And there's things we must do…" He spoke as he dried his tears with his hands. "I'm going now, Pyr. You just rest and get better. When you wake up, I'll take you to eat that grease burger I promised." He kissed Pyrrha's forehead and left with Yang and his sister.

A small smile graced the sleeping girl lips.

…

"Of course." Jaune groaned as he saw Qrow and his mother fighting in the middle of the camp mounted for the students and the Atlas soldiers that fled with them.

Avalon had many modern facilities disguised as the castle in the middle. A comm. tower raised behind it, but the amount of people they brought forced them to put most in camping tents outside. In the middle of it, Yang's uncle was fighting Jaune's mother. The woman was like an older version of Jeanne, just with her hair cut shorter and used a simple lance to fight Qrow.

"I'm so sorry, Jauney. Uncle Qrow has being… moodier since what happened." Yang said and Jaune ignored the fight to see how everyone was doing.

As he turned he fell down with Nora crying on his chest. He saw Ren sadly standing close by his side. Ruby approached, hiding her face with her hood, probably to hide the fact she cried a lot too. Weiss stood by her side, and she had nothing of the proud stance she once had. He saw Blake with team SSSN a little behind, probably because her identity as a former White Fang member was revealed during the chaos. Some people there probably weren't taking it well.

The Atlas soldiers that escaped with them where in a spot separated from the students, but shared the same defeated stare everyone had. The students were around in small groups, barely talking at each other, and while most were from Beacon, many others were from the other schools that came for the tournament. Most of them were so young and lost that Jaune couldn't help but curse under his breath their luck.

"Gaahh!" They turned to see Qrow was pushed back by Joanna Arc.

"Now can you calm down so we can have a civilized talk? You're in my house, Qrow, and I'm the head of the Arc family until I decide to pass the job to someone else." Joanna stated as she stood proud with lance in hand.

"And where the Arc family was when we needed?" He argued back as he used his scythe to support himself.

"Not playing with powers we don't understand, Qrow. Not acting on the shadows and leaving anyone outside your secret club clueless. If Raven didn't come to me, this could have ended worse." The blonde woman affirmed, and Qrow groaned and moved to attack again. She summoned seven light darts and hit Qrow with them, apparently to no effect, but them she used the staff to knock him down.

"What…" Ruby stared in confusion.

"Mother's Semblance, her light lances, drain people of their Aura." Jeanne explained as Raven dragged her stupid brother towards the group. Joanna smiled at Jaune, before grabbing him by his ear.

"Jaune Arc! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"Sorry mom!"

"Sneaking at Beacon like that! Your sisters were dead worried! And don't get me started at your dumb father and his 'confidence is key' bullshit! Now we'll have a family reunion to decide what to do with you! Raven, keep everyone under control until we come back." With that the Arcs left the camp.

"How's the girl?" Raven asked as she dropped Qrow in the shade.

"Same." Yang answered back.

"I'm going to see her." Nora affirmed and left with Ren.

"How are you girls?" Raven turned to Weiss, Ruby and Yang.

"Wishing nothing of this happened. I don't think I'm the only one." Weiss affirmed as she stared at the people scattered around.

"We'll recover; given enough time… do we even have time?" Yang asked her mother, and Raven sighed while crossing her arms.

"Time was never our ally. And my dumb brother and his little clique let fear guide their hand, and now here we are. But talking about the past won't make us moving forward. What we do from now on is all that matter." Raven affirmed to the present.

"And what we do exactly? That woman, Cinder, took the Atlas military, defeated everyone and has those Fall maiden powers! What are we supposed to do?!" Weiss shouted to no answer.

"Hey! We finally are getting a transmission!" An Atlesian soldier called and everyone reunited in front of a big holo-screen. The blurry image suddenly turned clear, and they all saw her, Cinder Fall, sitting on Ozpin's chair and office, with Emerald and Mercury on her side, and the controlled Penny on her back.

"Dear citizens of Vale. I'm Cinder Fall. A few days ago the White Fang attacked the Vytal Tournament Stadium, and used it to crash on land and destroy one of our protections against the Grimm. Thankfully, due to the acts of my associates and myself (the image cut to show Cinder and her group fighting Grimm, and she using her powers to defeat great numbers of them). We also recovered control of the Atlesian fleet that the White Fang took from them, and once again they protect us. Unfortunately the ones supposed to protect you fled in fear of the menace. (The image showed the Beacon students and Atlesian soldiers fleeing, but the image was changed to show them fleeing the Grim and not Cinder and her controlled robotic army) And the biggest champion of Remnant also fell down in the fight. (Pyrrha was shown fighting but without using the powers of the Fall maiden, and losing against the Grimm, probably an image created by Neo) But don't worry as myself and my group is now protecting you. We already received the authority from the Valean Council to do so, and we are hunting any remaining White Fang and Grimm in Vale. We're also trying hard to reestablish contact with the other kingdoms and if the people that fled is hearing this, we'll receive you back gladly if you return in the next week and collaborate with the authorities. We are keeping martial law until we can assure everyone's safety, so please collaborate. And as another proof of our good work, I present you something." Two men in uniform appear carrying a beaten down Adam Taurus, unmasked and with bruises on his face, hands and legs held by cuffs. "We captured the big leader of the White Fang. And now we will give the fitting punishment for all his crimes."

Cinder grabbed one of her swords and stood by Adam's side. He stared at her in disbelief as she raised her sword and decapitated him. In the camp, there were different reactions of shock. Some stood there, silently, while some threw up at the scene. Blake held her mouth to not yell his name and tears rolled her eyes.

"This is what expects anyone that threatens the security of the people. Your safety will never again being in danger as long as I lead the kingdom of Vale. More information will come in the next days, so we recommend everyone to stay safe at home till second order."

Now everyone started talking, and frustration started to flow in their voices and actions. A few fisticuffs started and Raven tried to apart them as fast and hard as she could, despite being mostly alone there. Things start to escalate when Cardin took some students to confront Blake.

"It's you and your pals fault! If the White Fang was not there nothing of this would have happened!" He accused her.

"You don't know that! If not the White Fang, she probably would have found some other group to manipulate to do her dirty work!" Coco defended the black haired girl who was too shocked to defend herself.

"Of course you would! You have a dirty Faunus in your team! We can't trust any of them!" Cardin said pushing Coco aside and trying to reach Blake, but a fist connected to his face and sent him down.

"ENOUGH!" Jaune shouted and stood in front of Blake. "Don't all of you see who our enemy is? What she want to make us do? She wants us to waste our time fighting between us instead of our real enemy, Cinder Fall! She played the White Fang, Atlas military and everyone like a goddamned fiddle to rise to power, and now all she need is this infighting to keep us from going after her! Blake WAS a member of the White Fang and helped us all this time. She informed us what was going on so we were able to try something! Now you have two options: go away or stay and help. But if any of you start fighting with each other again, be sure I'll kick your sorry asses out of here and in Grimm territory!"

"Jaune is right!" Ruby finally spoke, removing her hood from her face and drying some tears. "We need to get together and fight that woman! Our enemy is at Beacon, our school! And I want it back!"

"Fine… fine!"Cardin said as he got back up, finally calming down and thinking a bit more clearer. "And how we do that? She has an army! So unless you have something big hidden, Jaune boy, what you want us to do?"

"Get the team leaders together. I want a representative for the students by the end of the day. Who's under command of the Atlas forces here?" Jaune turned to the soldiers and Ciel Soleil stepped forward.

"At the moment I'm the highest ranked officer, sir." She affirmed, lacking a bit of confidence.

"We're working with the hypothesis Atlas has being compromised too, since Cinder took control of every automated system. I won't force you to help, but I hope you will." Jaune told Ciel and she eyed him with surprise. Her reports all put him as 'unimportant' but now he was the one leading everyone.

"I'll… discuss everything with my comrades." She saluted and called for the Atlas soldiers.

"Well, I think we now know who will lead the students." Yang said as she slapped Jaune's shoulder.

"Yeah!" Ruby supported him with a smile.

"Thanks guys, but I can't. I already have a position that would conflict with the job." Jaune chuckled while he scratched the back of his head.

"Why?" Ruby asked in a bit of a panic.

"Jauney is now the head of the Arc family. I can't keep everything in order here while fighting that woman back in Vale, so I passed the torch to him. It was one of the rare cases for the family come into an agreement." Joanna stated proudly and Jeanne smiled at her brother.

"So, as you see, my punishment for sneaking into Beacon is dealing with family drama." Jaune tried to humor them, and certainly that improved the mood. "Now Rubes, you need to take every leader and decide for a representative and what you all want to do. I'll fight, no matter what. I just need to know what I am against and how many resources I have by my side."

"Then you'll need me." Qrow said as he woke up and got up. "There are not many real Huntsmen around and you can use a hand."

"I'm really trying to not use my hand to punch you for what you did to Pyrrha." Jaune stated and Qrow at least had the decency to look guilty. "But I'm taking anyone willing to help."

"Then you'll need me, if nothing else to keep this dumbass of creating more trouble." Raven offered and Jaune smiled thankful.

"Well, I better get going them. But I'll help, and I think everyone in my team will too." Ruby said as she walked away. Jaune finally left out a relieved sigh and decided to go back to Pyrrha.

…

"We decided to work with you; at least until we can establish contact with Atlas command and be sure they aren't under control of that woman." Ciel said to Jaune as they reunited later that night. In the war room was Ciel, Coco as representative of the students, Qrow, Raven and Joanna Arc.

"Thanks, I appreciate the help." Jaune said while he finally found time and appetite to eat. "How about you, Coco?"

"It took time, lots of yelling, a few fights and Velvet threatening everyone with her box until we come in an agreement. But we finally were able to agree that we want to help. That girl clearly is no angel, and we all remember Oobleck's classes… And now I wonder if he's OK. Even Port…" Coco said and Jaune nodded. He hoped all the teachers were alive and well, even if he wanted to punch Ozpin really hard. "So, what's the plan? I say we strike hard and fast."

"I like her. Let's go with her idea." Qrow said while taking a sip from his bottle.

"That's a bad idea. She'll be expecting it. I recommend we first get prepared before any assault." Ciel answered.

"I like her. Let's go with HER idea." Raven chimed in, while sparks floated between Qrow and her.

"Then she gives the Queen there time to consolidate her power." The old man argued back.

"We do both. Any frontal attack will fail no matter how much prepared we are. We don't have the personal to pull up an open war. We go guerrilla style, striking fast and causing people to doubt Cinder's capacity of protecting them until we find a way to defeat her in direct fight. Cardin's right in one thing, we need something big. Cinder has the power of the Fall maiden, but what about the other three?" Jaune directed the question to Qrow.

"Ugh…The Summer maiden…" There was a deep sad tone on his voice. "…Isn't at our reach. The Winter and Spring maidens… They were instructed to hide even from us, just in case this whole transfer thing didn't work… by the way, I'm sorry. Your girl didn't deserve that."

"No, she didn't, but that you should say to Pyrrha when she wake up. Any chance of finding them?" Jaune asked as he finished eating.

"Chance? Yes. But won't be easy if they're scared, which they have the right to be." Qrow stated as he checked the map. "We might have ideas where to search for her though."

"And if you have, so would Cinder… Qrow, Raven, I want two to chose a team each, so you can go and try to find the other two maidens. Not team RWBY though, I have plans for them. If we find them, we can have a chance. Ciel, any chance of taking your airships and drones back?"

"We'd need a sample, a ship or droid with the virus. Then we would need an access, like a comm. tower directly linked to them. It would take time to pull it out." The Atlesian soldier informed.

"Work on that. We will provide whatever we can. Coco, I want you to do the hit and runs. No need to win any battle or get hurt. Find exposed targets, hit hard, flee."

"I can do that, and I can use Winchester. He really wants to break something, so better theirs than ours." The fashionista answered with a smirk.

"Good, take whoever is willing, but not on big numbers. We'll discuss more as we retrieve a bit more of intelligence." Jaune concluded looking at the map. "Questions?"

"What you want my nieces to do?" Qrow asked and Jaune stared at him. He really didn't want to answer that, but he needed Qrow's experience.

"Infiltration. We need information and Yang knows how to get that. But…we need that from inside." The blonde boy affirmed and Qrow started laughing.

"No."

"Team RWBY has the capacity. Blake and Yang can retrieve any information while Weiss and Ruby help them. We'll use Coco's attacks to give then windows for going in and out of Vale." Jaune concluded.

"No." Qrow affirmed again, and while everyone else didn't show any reaction, Raven slapped his head. "Ow!"

"He's working with what we have and doing a good job. Yang and Ruby aren't children anymore. We need their help." The woman growled at Qrow. "Besides, they would do something stupid like this on our back if we say they need to sit out of it."

"They would. Right, Ruby?" Jaune spoke towards the door.

"Yeah!" Came the answer and they sounds of someone being tackled. Jaune groaned and walked to the door, opening it to see Weiss trying to shut up Ruby.

"You four will depart in two days. I recommend you plan what to do and get some rest." Jaune stated to the four girls. "I'll give more details tomorrow."

…

"The boy really is taking his leadership role seriously." Raven said to Qrow as they found a tent to sleep in.

"I still don't like sending our girls there. Feels like he's trying to get even at me because of the Mistralian girl."

"The girl is called Pyrrha, his partner, his friend. He's taking it quite well for his age. I'd have killed you." She declared and Qrow dropped his body on the bed. "And as I said, our girls would've done something stupid anyway. Better do it with someone watching their backs."

"Yeah, yeah. I know you're right, but that don't make me like it more."

"Next time you probably will avoid messing with powers you don't know about. And when you plan telling Ruby?" Raven asked as she too prepared for some sleep.

"Only if it's our last resource."

…

"You need to sleep too, Jauney. I know you want to be by her side, but you'll run on fumes if you keep going. I know you haven't sleep since that day." Yang said as she blocked his way to the medical wing. Jaune groaned and wanted to say she was wrong, but he knew she wasn't wrong.

"Can at least is ay goodnight to her?" He asked, and Yang consented.

"But after that, I'll drag you to bed." She answered and he chuckled.

"If anyone heard it…"

"I'd punch them. We're friends, and I'm worried about you." She stated and Jaune then hugged her. She blushed a little but hug him back.

"Then I'll count on you to keep me in line." He said as they separated and he walked toward Pyrrha's room. Yang nodded and walked by his side, hoping for better days.

…

 **A.N.: Well, that's more about how I think Volume 3 will end than what will happens in Volume 4. I don't want to see Jaune having an emotional breakdown, which would be cliché. I'd love a short-haired Yang though. Anyway, I think Cinder is using the White Fang to pin any blame on them and ascend to power, and she obviously will betray them after that. Taking control of Atlas robots is already pretty much going to happen, and messing with the Tournament was made to bring the Grimm closer.**

 **Pyrrha is in a tight spot, so I wonder if she will rely on Jaune, but I fear she will bear the weight alone. I think the knight and his team won't believe Yang attacked Mercury without reason, but it will be impossible to prove it. Knowing ruby, she'll try to free her sister, and Raven will eventually help. In the end, all their efforts will fail, and Pyrrha will pay the highest price, hopefully not with her life.**

 **Ozpin and his little club of secrets are acting on fear, and Cinder is counting on it, so she won't be surprised by whatever will happen with Pyrrha and the Fall maiden. I suspect Summer rose, Ruby's mother, was one of them, and Ruby is her successor, but because she's too young she can't use the powers, and that's why the silver eyes is important.**

 **Or I can be completely wrong. We'll only know next year.**

 **Anyway, I don't know if I'll make this into a series, especially after we get the full volume. I might rewrite it after that to make my own version of volume 4. We'll see. ^^**


	2. Preparations

"Yes, councilor, I did order the police to arrest anyone trying to incite unrest." Cinder said over the videocomm, with a smug smile on her face.

" _What you mean is arrest anyone opposing you."_

"Anyone opposing me IS inciting unrest. Should I remember you, councilor, that the only one keeping Vale safe right now is me? Not your weak police force or you ineffective self defense force? And not counting everyone from Beacon simply left?"

" _Which could be fixed if you pass over the control of the Atlesian fleet to us."_

"There is no Atlesian fleet, or Atlesian cybernetic soldiers. They're mine now." She affirmed with a calm tone of voice, but that didn't invite discussion.

" _Do you think the people will just…"_

"They'll as long as I keep them safe, councilor."

" _The Council…"_

"…will obey my orders. After all, I did get Ozpin out of office as you practically begged me to do when I offered my support. And none of you will do anything on my back, unless your voters discover of your deviations. You see, councilor, I have on my possession some interesting videos. What will shock the good people of Vale more? The age of your… partners, or your preference for Faunus boys." The man on the other side of the line simple hang up the call, and Cinder giggled pleased.

"Won't they become trouble?" Emerald questioned as she lazily lay on the couch, staring at a magazine.

"They won't. They're more concerned with their own well being than of the people, after all, or else they wouldn't call Atlas or supported some of my plans so easily just because they didn't want to share power with the former headmaster." Cinder stated as she checked some screens on Ozpin's table.

"And if they do get rowdy, I always could pay a visit to them." Mercury stated as he exercised his legs.

"Be careful to not get another broken leg." Emerald teased him.

"It was part of the plan!"

"Maybe if you actually won that fight we wouldn't have to resort to that." Emerald retorted.

"You two, be nice." Cinder declared and the elevator doors opened, with Roman Torchwick walking with Neo by his side. He smoked a cigar and carried a box, while Neo simple sat in a small table and crossed her legs. "Ah, Roman. Back so soon? I assume you bring me good news."

"Well, time to learn a lesson about assuming AND about how fast bad news travel." Roman stated as he dropped the contents of the box on the table. Several scrolls spread around. "The little dweebs are cleverer than you expected. They discarded their scrolls."

"That would be a simple trail of bread for us to follow." Mercury affirmed while trying to access a scroll.

"Oh, it would be if little birds didn't come to carry them all over Remnant. I found them everywhere from Vacuo to Mistral and even Menagerie. They didn't simple dropped them as they fled, they actively threw them as spread as they could." Roman sat at the chair and crossed his legs. "I told you we should've tried to hunt those ships as soon as possible."

"They didn't simple disappear. They're somewhere." Mercury answered and Roman rolled his eyes before turning to Cinder.

"You really need smarter assistants, Ms. Fall. Of course they didn't disappear! But wherever they're hiding isn't in the open! So unless you have any clue where to look at, we can't just go blind on Grimm territories searching for them, unless you want to mobilize that pretty fleet of yours." Roman finished his rant by dropping some ashes on Mercury's shoes.

"Then use your contacts to find clues, Roman. They're children, scared, probably worried about their parents. At least one of them might have tried to call. As for the fleet, I need it here to be sure the Valean Council won't try to be funny." Cinder affirmed still in her calm demeanor. Roman understood he wasn't wanted there anymore and got up followed by his partner. He stopped to poke on one of the Atlesian androids.

"You know what's funny? No one expected the machines to betray their leaders." He commented at the door.

"Are you implying something, Roman?" Cinder asked, her smile leaving her face.

"Nothing really." He answered and left with Neo.

"Should we get rid of him?" Mercury asked.

"In due time. He's not a threat, just a greed man." Cinder answered as a smile formed back in her face.

"What about the other Kingdoms?" Emerald asked as she sat up.

"Yeah, won't they cause trouble?"

"Not when two thirds of the mighty Atlesian army is under my command. Mistral is acting in defiance, more to reassure their people they can protect them than of any real capacity to threaten me. Vacuo is trying to be friendly and thinking a deal will keep them safe. And Atlas is in such turmoil that they're in the brink of a civil war." Cinder smiled again as she held a scroll on her hands. "We control an army, their capacity of communication and I have the Fall maiden powers. Very little can be done against me."

"How about the other maidens?" Mercury questioned.

"We'll find them in the due time." Cinder tossed a scroll at Mercury. "Check them out. Might as well have some data we can use."

"And what if the students try something?"

"They're irrelevant. They probably are too scared to do something, and without a leader to guide them, probably hiding in some hole, crying. We probably will see some coming back by the end of the week if they saw my message." Cinder turned around and stared outside, at what would soon be her kingdom to rule as a queen.

…

"Can you stop walking around? It's just making me nervous."

"How can you be so calm, Peter! We're locked here while a crazy woman is trying to conquer the world! And worse, our students don't have our guidance in this moment of need!" Oobleck answered as he kept walking side to side on his cell.

"And wasting energy won't help them or us." Peter retorted and stared to Glynda, her hair running free and her glasses missing from her face. "How about you, Glyn?"

"If the students were captured, we would know. That woman would come to gloat about it, and probably to show us what they did to them." The blonde teacher answered, her voice laced with worry for her students.

"I don't get is why keep us here. What she want from us?" Oobleck asked and the answer came from Ironwood in another cell.

"Her power won't be full until she captures the power of the other maidens." Ozpin said calmly from his own cell. "She probably believes we can provide information for her."

"Then why she didn't start asking?"

"Because all of us would rather die than give her that. And even if she threatens us, none of us would speak." Ozpin said and Oobleck and Peter gulped. "She knows that, and since she doesn't have anything to trade for the information, she won't come to us just yet."

"And exactly what she could offer us that would make us speak?" Ironwood questioned.

"Thankfully, nothing. But remember, she did ask us who helped our students for a reason." Ozpin answered and they all realized what she wanted. While they would never open their mouths, if she used the Beacon staff as hostages, the students probably would comply with her demands.

"Then our doom is just postponed. How long will take her to find them when she holds basically all of Atlas power under her control." Ironwood said in defeat.

"The same fleet you were so sure to be able to scare them away?" Glynda said in both an accusatory and a lamenting tone. "If Mr. Arc can lead them to safety, to his family, we still have a chance."

"Arc? Didn't all the members of the Arc family turned into farmers or something?" Ironwood questioned.

"They might not be leading armies, James, but they never stopped protecting Remnant." Ozpin concluded.

…

"There you are. Lunch will be ready soon." Yang said as she found Blake atop a tree, trying to read a book to get her mind of everything that was happening. "Jauney says we will have a meeting later to discuss what everyone will do."

"I know. They sent us messages in our new scrolls." Blake said without looking at her partner, showing the black and silver scroll that connected with the private Arc net.

"Blakey, are you hiding there? Is anyone giving you a hard time?"

"I don't think anyone can give us a harder time." Blake answered, sighing and finally closing her book. "But I do want to keep a distance for now."

"You know Jaune's family will kick the ass of anyone mistreating you. I'll, as will Rubes and the Weiss-cream."

"I know. And I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing for them." Blake answered as she jumped down. "They just lost a lot, and need time to think clearly instead of pinning blame on the easiest target. So until they all understand who our true enemy is, better let sleeping dogs lie."

"I think you're wrong. They probably will take your absence the wrong way. Come on, let's get lunch." Yang prompted by taking Blake by her hand. "Those Atlas technicians sure know how to build fast."

At the edge of the camping, a tower made of steel tubes was being erected. The Arcs decided that they couldn't risk their own communication system in tapping into the towers controlled by Cinder, so they were building one for that objective. Apparently that girl, Ciel, had a way to hack into the towers without being tracked back. So they were working on the alternative reception tower.

Soon they found themselves in a big tent where wooden tables and benches were put, not too dissimilar from Beacon, and both girls already missed the place. Students were put in a working schedule to help the Arc family with the work of taking care of all of them. The girls grabbed lunch and sat with Weiss, Ruby, Sun, Neptune and Qrow.

"Hey, time for you to show up. The food is… edible?" Weiss said as she ate it anyway. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Considering everything… Jaune?" Yang asked as she started eating, looking around.

"If he's not with Pyrrha, he's solving problem between the students and his family. Might say, I'm surprised his whole family kind of have a black ops army under their command." Sun added as he ate a banana.

"I think his family IS the black ops army. I haven't found anyone here that isn't an Arc by birth or marriage and all of them carry weapons. Outside us, the students and the Atlas soldiers, of course. Even the Faunus ones are related to him. Apparently one of his great-great-granduncles married a Faunus." Neptune added.

"That's impossible. Marriage between Faunus and Humans didn't become legal until ten years ago." Blake commented as she poked her half-burnt fish.

"It's true. Arcs aren't really famous by playing by the book. And that worked really well for us or otherwise we probably would be hiding in some forgotten wasteland." Qrow said as sipped from his flask.

"Uncle Qrow, where you're even finding alcohol?" Ruby questioned while pouting.

"I have my ways."

"Unfortunately." Raven spoke as she approached with Ren and Nora, seating in the table with them. "I hope you have chosen a team to go with you already. We need to take this job seriously."

"Yeah, yeah. You disappeared for seventeen years and still are a pain in my butt, sis." Qrow said before being kicked in the knee by Ruby, as the girl pointed with her head to Yang, but the blonde girl just kept eating.

"Have you chosen someone, aunt Raven?" Ruby asked as a way to avoid the issue.

"I have, indeed. How about you girls, ready for your infiltration mission?"

"Arc will tell us about that later. Where's he by the way?" Weiss asked towards Nora and Ren.

"He spoke with Pyrrha this morning, and then his mother came and said she wanted to talk with him." Ren explained as he held a cup of tea.

"I hope that dunce isn't hiding how he's feeling from us. We need him, and I don't want to see him break down because he has being bottling his feelings." Weiss chastised, but her words were filled of concern for the boy.

"Jaune-Jaune isn't bottling it. He's stronger than we thought. That's why we go to talk with Pyrrha, so we can let our feelings flow." Nora said, and they all noticed her energy was mostly gone.

"He knows the best way to help his partner is defeating the queen. So he's focusing his sorrow and anger in an objective. I suggest you all do the same." Raven concluded, and they all nodded.

…

"Hard to believe you learned how to fight that well in just this feel months. Pyrrha really is a good teacher." Joanna Arc stated as she stood and Jaune tried to get up after receiving quite a beating from his mother.

"I told you. Still, I need probably years before being at a level I can say I'm on par with my classmates." He said as he finally got up and tried to get back on his stance.

"But Glynda told me you probably are the best tactician of Beacon. This to me is more important than your capacity of slaying Grimm." Joanna stated as she disarmed Jaune with her lance. He tried to use his shield but she slapped him with the staff.

"I don't want to be in the back while my friends risk their lives." Jaune answered as he walked to retrieve his weapons from the ground, but his mother stopped him.

"I know, and I regret agreeing with you father and not allowing you to receive proper training. He wanted you to find a life different from mine and our ancestors. But I think growing up with all those stories made you follow your own path anyway. I still will have a long talk with your headmaster about that Initiation thing though." Joanna said with a smile. "Now, I'm taking Crocea Mors back."

"But mom!" Jaune started to protest but the Arc woman slapped the back of his head.

"Shush! That sword was never meant to be yours." She said as she retrieved the sword and shield. "You grew taller than your father, your grandfather and your ancestors before you. This sword is not adequate for you. Jeanne!"

From a barrack came Jaune's twin sister, carrying something enveloped in a white sheet. She gave it to Jaune, which hesitantly took it and unwrapped it. Inside was a sword, slight longer and broader than Crocea Mors, in an elegant sheath that made him remember of leaves. He drew the blade, mostly white as the old one, but with golden edges. There were seven holes along the blade to reduce its weight, and the guard was longer than that of his old sword. He tested the sheath, and similar to the old one it opened as a shield, this time a teardrop shield that offered more protection.

"This is great!" Jaune said as he swung the sword and tested the shield. "Somehow it feels more…"

"Fitting." Jeanne completed and he nodded. "We took on account your height, wingspan and built, so you can say it's the perfect sword for you. Aureum Mors."

"I… I don't know what to say…" Jaune spoke as he put the sword and shield away.

"Don't say anything, use it well instead. Use it to correct the injustices of the world, to protect people and to slay evil." Joanna commanded before hugging Jaune. "And come back to your family every time."

"I will, and an Arc…"

"Never goes back with our word." Jeanne completed once again.

…

Jaune groaned as he entered the war room. As expected, Raven and Qrow were bickering again, while Coco was slapping Cardin's side. Team RWBY, Nora and Ren were trying to pacify things, while Ciel looked terrified. The Arc boy recognized four students from the tournament were there two, probably chosen by Raven or Qrow. Sun was there, eating a banana and talking with Flynt Coal. The sniper girl, Mei Zedong, stared at all that with clearly doubt in her visible eye, while Arslan Altan looked as displease as he was at the moment.

"Now I know why Ms. Goodwitch carried that riding crop everywhere." Jaune murmured.

"I can find you one, but I think a stun gun would work more effectively." Joanna Arc replied and the boy groaned again.

"OK everyone…" He was ignored. "Oh for… Sex!" They all gone quiet immediately and stared in shock at Jaune. "Now that I have your attention, let's start with the planning."

"Wait, no, go back a little." Sun started and Jaune silenced him with a glare.

"Ciel, how's the tower going?" Jaune asked the young soldier.

"We will finish by tomorrow morning. And we already finished the hacking devices to put in the SDC towers." She said as she activated the holographic table, showing a device in the form of a ring. "It's purely physical, no software hacking involved, so it won't be easy detected and can't be remotely disabled. It will retransmit all communications to our tower, and an algorithm we're making will filter the important ones for us."

"Impressive you could do all that in such short time." Jaune praised her, and a small smile graced Ciel's face.

"The engineer corps is proud of their capacity to do what's needed, and your family provided all the materials." She answered and Jaune motioned her to continue. "We will take a few technicians and some students to these three towers…" She pointed to them on the map. "The students will keep the Grimm away while we install the devices. Hopefully none of those towers will have guards. Since the devices we're installing transmit in all directions, even if they find it they won't be able to triangulate our position."

"Good. Now, about the havoc team…"

"Oh, I like it. Havoc team. I'll make t-shirts." Coco said to Jaune with a smile, and he just rolled his eyes.

"We want to show the people that the queen isn't all powerful but that we are against her and not against them. So no civilian targets and casualties." He said and both Coco and Cardin were about to protest but he raised his hand. "I know that make your job harder, but we don't want people thinking we're another White Fang."

"That we sure aren't." Cardin snarled towards Blake, but the girl ignored it.

"Target the Atlesian robots, police cars but not the police people. If she sat up propaganda pieces, vandalize them. But your main mission is to get into this place…" He pointed to a building near the main park of the city. "It's a marketing company, and they control most of those holographic billboards around the town. They're independent from the Dustnet, so it isn't in direct control of our enemies. I want you to upload a little video we made." Jaune tossed a data drive to Coco.

"Did someone film that woman attacking Pyrrha?" Coco asked while examining the drive.

"Sadly, no. Only blurred stuff without discerning audio. That's why our main objective here is acquiring as much Intel about the queen as we can. Ruby, that's where your team comes in."

"We're ready, Jaune." Ruby affirmed with a confidence she didn't show for the last days.

"I still find it a bad idea. They know them." Qrow complained.

"We'll provide disguises, but only Blake can access the White Fang… or what's left of them, and we know the queen manipulated them, so I hope the Fang tried to find dirty to keep tabs on her." Jaune explained.

"And what if she betrays us to go back to her animal friends?" Cardin asked and this time Blake answered him.

"After killing Adam on live transmission? I doubt any member of the Fang want anything to do with that woman. If we're lucky, they might help us instead. Besides, how do we know you won't betray us to save your own skin?" Sensing that a discussion was brewing, Jaune slapped the table getting everyone's attention.

"There's no point on this exchange of accusations. Blake has left the Fang long ago AND has been working to bring them down. Remember that she was there, fighting WITH us. And that the queen was posing as a student, so if we start doubting anyone based on this, everyone in this camp can turn traitor." Cardin shut up again, and Blake sighed and relaxed. "Now, here some scrolls with your new fake ID."

"They'll force a positive match if the cops try to scan them, but won't hold if they try to check with the central." Ciel explained as she delivered the devices. "I suggest you memorize your fake names."

"Kate Nip… My fake name is Kate Nip?" Blake asked angrily while the rest suppressed some giggles. "Yang!"

"Hey, it wasn't me! I swear!" Yang said while her voice cracked as she suppressed a laugh.

"And why my hair is purple? I don't… Oh no. No!" Blake growled at Jaune.

"We need to make you all more… less… you need disguises."

"Come on, Blake, he's right." Weiss calmed her friend and checked her scroll. "Let's see… I hate you! Snow Bahll? Really? And what with the thick glasses and braids?"

"We also will apply makeup to hide your scar." Jaune added and Weiss mouthed a 'you will pay' towards him.

"Oooh! I have cute ears!" Ruby celebrated as she checked her scroll. "And my name is... Pat Mi?"

"Sure." Yang answered and patted the girl, which giggled happily. "So, I'm assumed Rubes will go with Blakey?"

"Yeah, Weiss would not be well received by the Faunus, and you need to go to that source of yours, so you're taking our princess with you." Jaune justified and Weiss growled at him again.

"And I'm… Goldie Hawk! And I have an eyepatch and a brown eye! I'm the coolest."

"Pfft, I'm the luckiest one. Pat Mi!" Ruby declared and Nora patted her.

"Great. Now that my nieces have their dangerous mission, what about us?" Qrow asked towards Jaune. "Please tell me you won't pull an Ozpin."

"No, your objective is simple. Find the other maidens and bring them here before the queen does. I bet you already chose a support team." Jaune asked eyeing the rest of the teenagers.

"I had. It was hard to find a balanced team between all of you that was willing to go." Qrow said as Sun, Mei, Arslan and Flynt approached him. "They'll cover all our bases, despite me still believing I can do it alone."

"No, no one is to work alone for now. We can't risk losing anyone." Jaune explained. "We don't have enough people as is, we can't afford anymore loses, especially of the few graduated Hunters we have. So, Qrow, which maiden you're after?"

"The Winter maiden. She's hard to deal with but we have a story together."

"I hope the story isn't about you hitting on her." Raven chimed in and Qrow made a weird face.

"Not a chance!" He answered and shivered. "How about you, sis? Who are the unlucky guys that will follow you?"

"Team JNPR."

There was a moment of silence.

Jaune was the first to move, staring between the sure smile of Raven and the accepting smile of his mother. Ren widened his eyes in surprise, and Nora simple stood like a statue.

"The Spring maiden is quite hard to deal with since she is vey untrusting. She won't come with me to help someone she doesn't know, so the leader of our little group should come with me, and since he IS coming, the rest of his team probably will want to." Raven explained her reasons.

"Don't worry, son, I'll keep everything running until your return. Besides, Jeanne will go with you." Joanna explained and Jeanne moved forward.

"I won't and can't be a substitute for Pyrrha, so think of me as an additional member of the team." Jeanne said in her soft voice and suddenly Nora hugged her.

"Welcome aboard!" She declared with a big smile she didn't give in a while. Jaune sighed and smiled knowing there was very little he could do about that.

"Very well. I suggest you all go rest for the day. We depart before sunrise." The knight affirmed ready to finish the meeting.

"Wait, sunrise? Won't we be working at night?" Coco questioned.

"Vale is probably under martial law, so moving during the day will be safer than at night. Besides, you can't wear sunglasses during the night." He answered with a smirk and Coco touched her glasses before silencing everyone giggling with a stare.

…

"Raven!" The woman stopped on her tracks as she saw her daughter approaching. She sighed, knowing it wasn't a mother-daughter moment that was going to happen, but that was something she expected.

"Don't worry; I'll keep your friends safe." The dark-haired woman answered as the blonde girl reached her.

"You better! And if you could…" Yang got a little meek and Raven tilted her head in surprise. "Talk with him."

"You're worried about the Arc boy. But he's being surprisingly strong, considering all that's happening. You all are." Raven said and Yang shook her head.

"I'm not sure if we're being strong or just moving too fast to realize how messed up we all are. I just want to be sure everyone is alright. It's easy to talk with Ruby and my team, but Jaune… he took the biggest hit AND they put him in charge. It's too much."

"Then help him carry the weight. I'll do it, so should you and all his friends. There's a good reason Hunters are packed in teams. I certainly needed some while I was… away." Raven said and Yang nodded in a little understanding.

"Yeah, I'll check my team first. Blakey really hates the idea of dying her hair purple. After that I'll talk with him, make sure he get my mother back to me." Yang answered and walked away before Raven could answer back. She left a small smile, now with a little hope that maybe she could make amends, after all.


End file.
